1. Field of the Disclosure
The present disclosure is generally directed to vehicle tires, and more particularly to a wheel and multi chamber tire assembly for use with a vehicle.
2. Description of Related Art
Pneumatic tires, which are often used in connection with vehicles such as automobiles, trucks, and trailers, are well known in the art. Modern conventional pneumatic tires are tubeless—they do not require an interior or inner tube—and are typically formed of two exterior sidewalls and a tread that define a single interior air chamber. Conventional tires can be problematic in that a single puncture or hole, whether caused by a nail, a rock, a pothole impact, or other object, can deflate, flatten, or, even worse, “blowout” the tire. This may lead to an accident or may, in the least, force the driver to stop driving and change the tire or have the vehicle towed, otherwise risking further damage to the tire, wheel, and/or vehicle structure associated with that tire.
Tires having a single air chamber are also highly susceptible to longitudinal and/or lateral deformation, particularly when the tire is low on air pressure and the vehicle is rounding corners at high speeds or is being driven on rocky, hilly, or generally uneven terrain. This type of unnatural deformation can shorten the lifespan of a conventional tire and also can affect the frame clearance and weight distribution of the vehicle, thereby increasing the likelihood that the driver will later lose control of the vehicle.
In an attempt to overcome some of these above-noted problems, attempts have been made to develop dual-chamber pneumatic tires and tire systems. Typically, these dual chamber systems employ a concentric chamber arrangement in the tire, as disclosed in expired U.S. Pat. No. 5,301,729, in which an inner tire is disposed within an outer tire. The space between the outer tire and the inner tire defines an outer air chamber and the space between the inner tire and the rim defines an inner air chamber. If, due to a puncture or hole, the outer tire is punctured and the outer air chamber deflates, the inner air chamber is intended to remain inflated to prevent a “blowout” or total deflation. Although such a partially inflated tire may provide the driver with some limited control and stability, at least as compared to a conventional single air chamber tire, it is not without problems of its own. The exterior wall of the inner tire is positioned near the inner wall of the outer tire. If the outer tire is punctured and the outer air chamber deflates, the puncturing object and/or the deflating outer tire itself may damage the exterior wall of the inner tire. This may result in a partial, if not full, collapse and deflation of the inner air chamber as well. However, even if the inner air chamber remains intact following the puncture and deflation of the outer air chamber, the tire, now adopting the shape of the inner air chamber, will undergo a significant height (or rolling diameter) reduction. When this happens, that corner of the vehicle will drop to a lower elevation. This can affect weight distribution and may again increase the likelihood that the driver will later lose control of the vehicle. This can also damage the wheel or result in damage to the vehicle parts near the tire.
Some dual chamber systems alternatively employ a side-by-side chamber arrangement. U.S. Publication No. 2003/0131918 discloses a tire in which several air chambers have the same original height and are side by-side adjacent to, but physically separate from, one another. With such an arrangement, even if one of the tire surfaces is punctured and one of the chambers collapses, the vertical elevation of the tire is supposed to remain largely unchanged. Nonetheless, a host of safety issues and potential problems may be associated with the tire disclosed by the '918 publication. For example, once the tire surface is punctured, the corresponding air chamber will collapse or deflate adjacent the other chambers. This can result in width-wise collapse or deformation of the separation wall to the adjacent air chamber, which may deform the other air chambers, side walls, tread surface, and separation walls as it does so. Operating a vehicle with such an irregularly shaped tire may significantly damage the tire, and potentially the wheel, and may also be unsafe. This may be especially true when the vehicle rounds tight corners (where it is important that the tire tread stay flat on the road surface and the side walls hold) or is being driven in less than ideal conditions (such as rain, snow, etc.). Thus, such a side-by-side multi chamber tire design as disclosed in the '918 publication may also be subject to significant lateral and longitudinal deformation when one of the air chambers deflates or blows out. As noted above, this type of deformation may shorten the lifespan of the tire and may affect the ride height and weight distribution of the vehicle. This can increase the likelihood that the driver may lose control of the vehicle.